6.30.2002
 
Nothing much to talk about today besides Christy's mom's 40th bday party.

In the grand tradition of many an office worker, a bunch of her mom's friends (and her dad) all collaborated to throw a "surprise" birthday party for her. Naturally, everyone wasn't very good at keeping secrets (although they did manage not to say it out loud, but everyone left severe hints of it) so she arrived dressed like she's going to a party.

Christy, sis, and I hung out the entire time. We grabbed a booth and just sat and talked about anything and everything: lil kids and babies (Christy:"My ovaries need to be taken out!"), aussies, and up-coming bands. An hour into the festivities we got bored so we hopped out of the casino/bar/restaurant to go walk around the shopping complex. Went over to Wherehouse Music and browsed for bands that we like while ridiculing others; what the hell is Aaron Carter or the Brit Spears doing in the Rock section?! Came back to the party and hung around long enough to have a bit of cake and watch her mom open some presents. When the box of Depends came out, Christy was relatively squealing with amusement.

But it quickly lost our interest so we went outside and into the SUV her family was renting at the moment... the one complete with a DVD player. And I just happened to bring Velvet Goldmine with me, hehehe. There was much squealing when Mr. McGregor dropped his pants (along with the other lucrative sex parts) and much debating over which eye-lined person was really a guy or girl. All the while constantly looking over our backs to make sure that her parents weren't anywhere near us.

Mid-movie the parents knocked on the car window to tell sis and I that we had to leave. I escorted Christy back into the wolf's den (read: party room) and we said our goodbyes till this friday's Warped Tour.

Afterwards, went over to the Suncoast with intentions of watching Mr. Deeds. That didn't happen. While at the bowling alley to kill some time before our movie, we ran into Christen and Monica from school and chatted with them a bit before they had to go catch their showing of the same movie. Afterwards sis and I went to the arcade where we watched people play DDR (these lil girls were kicking everyone's ass!) and played some random games and such.

There was this cute blonde boy playing a lot of the racing games. A pity that he looks like a tall 8th grader.

Well, the movie was sold out at about that time so the family decided to just each a proper dinner at the cafe instead. I decided to be extra snobbish and ordered tea and a croissant. Ate it with a knife and fork too.

Not much else happened; we came home, parents went upstairs, sis and I watched Eddie Izzard until she fell asleep while I'm still awake typing up all of this.

But I really should be getting to bed right about now.

. . . . . posted:||2:19 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.28.2002
 

Okay, so this has been bugging me and I doubt that I'll be able to sleep without saying something about it.

Why Thoroughly Modern Millie is now my second-favorite Broadway show:

- it's classic Broadway, big band and sweeping orchestras and all

- there's tap dancing! don't see that now-a-days

- the Roaring 20's is enough to get me hooked!

- romantic, Pretty Woman-style couple with Beauty & the Beast-style coincidences

- there're at least two songs that're partially/completely in Mandarin while still maintaining the big-band, jazzy sound! yeah!

- Lea Salonga/ Jessica Alba-esque lead actress

- sexy-ass lead actor (who, sadly, was the lead for Honk!)

- crescendos of swelling emotion in every-other song

- no goddamn Julie Andrews to spoil the songs

- George Gershwin is actually in this one (!)

and last but not least:

- a message about the strength and power of l'amour

One of the best things about musicals: true love can exist. In the real world the chances of finding someone are few and far in between, but when there's someone out there holding the pen/ typing on the keyboard, fate tends to lend to a lot more coincidences than normal.

Plot twists galore, baby!

Consider it a heightened sense of reality where emotion is magnified ten fold. Just like a surreal Bollywood feature, the characters get out all the emotions of their entire lives in a short three hours (including intermission). But the true beauty of Broadway is in performing, not merely sitting back and allowing yourself to ease into the music.

To be there, under the bright stage lights in full costume wearing about an inch of stage make-up singing and screaming and twinkling as loudly as you can when the music hits its fortissimo. It's not only a complete adrenaline rush, but a great way to let out every bit of agression.

... well, for me anyways.

::looks around::

. . . . . posted:||1:37 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Must... fight... temptation... to... redesign... aah!

Currently, I have been head-over-heels (or as she puts it: "my heart did a whiz-bang, flip-flop, heaven for a minute") for the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. A pity that I didn't have tickets for their pre-broadway tour, because after seeing two of the song numbers performed on Rosie and the Tony awards, I want to see it bad!

"Days of yore, kind and gentle,
ask me if I'm sentimental!
Not for the life of me!"

Right now completely grooving to the original broadway cast recording of it. The Roarin' 20's was an amazing time in US history, and TMM brings it alive in the jazzy music and the tap-dancing number I saw. Not to mention the numerous shots of the cast in full costume. Mmph!

"The WoolWorth Building! The MetLife Tower! There's gold in them there hills and I'm gonna get it or die trying!"

Allow me to apologize for going cliche for the moment but... I just spent about ten minutes doing the Charleston to two of the songs (plus some faux-tap dancing, jazz hands, and wide-mouthed, enunciated lipsyncing). It's almost as bad as me playing DDR Konamix for two hours straight... almost. But I fear that I'll wear out the $30 I spent on that game by getting all the secrets already.

No, I will not make this into a DDR post; it's already scary enough as is.

Right now step-cousin Joe (the one all my friends think is cute) has his jeep/car parked out in front of the house. Apparently he pissed off mi uncle so he's grounded from driving. But, instead of being a normal parental figure and confiscating the boy's license, uncle took his truck here, disassembled some of the engine so that it won't run, and got picked up later by aunt.

Damn, that means that Joe did something really bad. Kinda pathetic to see a 19 year old get grounded, but when you're boarding at your parents', that's inevitable. Still, I can sympathize and laugh at/with him at the same time.

Piano lessons today because summer vacations cleared up some space in my piano teacher's schedule. Even then, next week's lesson will be on tuesdays with the original set up (sis and I would have both Chris and Bri and switch off every week). Good times, especially since I've been itching to get into more jazz and blues improvisations for some time.

Tomorrow mom's sorority sis is visiting from the motherland so the parents have to go and entertain a guest for the night. In other words, sis and I will be stuck in the house with grandma with no escape.

And then there's the surprise b-day party for a friend's mom on saturday... not to mention the usual sunday fare (on a funny side note: the parish offices sent me a letter asking me to consider volunteering my services to the church as either a eucharistic minister or reader... mandatory attendance of church? Hell no.) and then I still have to actually start painting in my lil boat/box shrine-thingy. Yeesh.

Main reason why I haven't accomplished all that I've wanted to thus far: I spend too much time with the headphones on singing and dancing to any number of musicals.

Watch out, if things progress as they are right now, I'll have to douse the flames with a really large bucket of water.

. . . . . posted:||12:54 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.25.2002
 

I told you I was working on it. A few more bugs to sort out, but so far it's looking more or less what I expected it to.

So yes, recently I've obsessed over flamenco dancing. Blame this Harry Potter slash-fic, I tell you!!!

Last night was fun. Sis and I got to the Forum at about 6:15 and waited for Leah to show up. We circled the aquarium about four times before she (and Floyd and Mark) showed up around 6:50. Francis came 'round a lil while later and we lined up to get a table.

A 50 minute wait was given to us, so everyone went over to the Virgin Megastore nearby and we browsed the stuff.

Finally, we got a table. While waiting for them to get our table ready, half of the group was contemplating whether or not this rude asian woman next to us really did have a double x chromosome.

General conversation topics ranged from Ms. Miller to Belin to Iron Chef to the abundance of cute and/or gay guys around us. Apparently Leah's not going away for the rest of the summer... she's moving. It was sad. Well, not really, but no one was bawling or anything of the sort.

Afterwards sis and I went back to Virgin to buy the stuff we wanted to. I got the latest Blade of the Immortal graphic novel, a book about Caravaggio, Neil Gaiman's Murder Mysteries, and DDR Konamix.

So, after numerous hours of working on the computer (interrupted by spurts of DDRing and Oliver's Twist) I and exhausted. Good night.

. . . . . posted:||7:43 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.24.2002
 

Another day at the office filing shite.

When we began working we originally had to file these papers by the insurance company, and most of our work was done in the "kitchen"/ lounge area. By the third day dad had us relocated to his office so we wouldn't be a bother to the people coming in to enjoy their coffee break. So, now sis and I are stationed at our dad's now empty desk; she gets the black swervy chair while I get the plushie patient's parents chair. Lately she's been filing check receipts while I've been doing the unpaid charges. Joy of joys.

Our boss, Conny, is a very likable person (read: she always says thanks at the end of the day) and treats us as if we volunteered our time without pay. Cat says that she'll probably end up acting like her when she starts work. I agree.

Sometimes we get extremely bored, so I usually grab the nearby stuffed moose plushie and let it sit on my head as I work on filing. When the occasional patient comes in to pick a flavor of lollipop (or a curious patient peeks their head into the room) I get plenty of odd stares. Yes, life is... erm.

Then there's Maria who gets sis and I iced tea from Jitters (complements of dad) while answering and calling numerous people. I happen to sit infront of the phone she often uses so I normally scoot up for her.

Been working on the new layout. Just before I was about to send it in, I realized that the current design was shite so I scrapped it and am currently redesigning the main page. Grrr.

Tonight I get to eat yummy food at the Cheesecake Factory at the Forum. Leah's gonna be gone the entire summer so she's holding a lil dinner party there for some of her close friends. Ahem... RICA! She doesn't know you're number so this is to let you know that it's at 6:00-ish PM at the Forum's Cheesecake Factory!

... Eh, screw the new layout. I have to complete my current "songs to boink to" playlist. Ta.

. . . . . posted:||3:29 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.23.2002
 

Oh gawd. I still can't decide whether it was the sight of glitter eye shadow, Eddie Izzard with a riding crop, Ewan McGregor naked on stage screaming into a mic while pouring gold glitter on himself, or the completely provocative tongue movements... but now I wanna revive the entire glam rock movement!

Yeah! Rhinestones and zirconium and polyester/vinyl pants! Glittery eyeshadow, feathery frocks, and lipstick marks on cigarettes! Who's with me?!

::crickets chirp::

. . . . . posted:||5:37 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Blame this on the sender (::coughSarahcough::)

-You-

Full Name: Charles ________

Sex: Very enjoyable... oh, male

Birthdate: Feb 2nd

Nicknames: Chuckles, Chuckster, Chuckerific, Chuck-o-rama, Buddha, Bastard, Panda, Koala, etc.

City: Las Vegas

State: Nevada

School: LVA

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Black-brown

Weight: ... ha

Height: 5'7"

Boyfriend/Girlfriend's Name: none

Crush: at the moment... none

-Favorites-

Ice Cream: Ben & Jerry's Phish Food

Soda: Diet Coke w/ Lemon

Food: artichokes

Candy: Almond M&M's

Gum: Winterfresh

Chip: Cheetos

Color: anything Red, Black, White, or Chatreuse

Scent: cigarettes and/or wine

Song: "Somewhere Out There" a la Our Lady Peace

Singer: Since they're in the movie... Ewan McGregor

Band: no preference

Hobby: anything 'bout art (how cliche -_-;;)

Sport: fencing or tennis... is DDR a sport yet?

Number: 24

Season: autumn

Holiday: Mardi Gras

Month: erm... August?

Movie: Moulin Rouge, Velvet Goldmine, and L.I.E.

TV Show: BtVS, Dark Angel, Hamtaro

Book: "Bodies & Souls"

Web-Site: www.sundancechannel.com

Magazine: XY

Vacation Spot: Ibiza

City: Monte Cristo

Resturant: Spago

Actor: Ewan McGregor

Actress: Meg Ryan

Brand of Clothes: anything that looks good, but I'm partial to Anchor Blue and Savers

Brand of Shoes: Dickies or Vans

Quote: "...the curve of your lips rewrite history." So I'm watching Velvet Goldmine, it's only natural I quote from it.

-Choose One-

Britney or Christina: The latter, she actually has talent.

NSYNC or BSB: ... next question

Wal-Mart or Target: Walgreens! Ha!

Peanut Butter or Jelly: peanut butter

Reese Cup or Butterfinger: Reese's

Book or Magazine: book

TV or Radio: TV

Tape or CD: CD

Naked or Clothed: ... um, naked?

Night or Day: completely nocturnal

Cold or Hot: cool

Sugar or Salt: both; dualities in taste rock

Chinese or Mexican Food: Chinese

New York City or Beverly Hills: NYC

Pinky or Brain: ... Spleen. Next question.

Tom or Jerry: what happened to Ben?

Bugs Bunny or Taz: Marvin the Martian

-Friends-

Best: several

Skinniest: ... naw, that'd be cruel to say

Funniest: erm, Christy and all the theatre majors

Shyest: Emmelle, Karen whe she's kinda on edge

Nicest: Emmelle

Smartest: hmm... Marcy and Karen are up there

Most Outgoing: too many

Laziest: I have so many names for this one

Koolest: Karen, Flavey, and Marcy

Loudest: sadly enough... me

Quietest: Emmelle

Most Trustful: several

Most Talented: one of the advantages of going to a magnet school, you meet many talented people

Best Singer: again, see above

Best At Sports: um, Brady?

Best Taste In Music: Flavey or Lizzy

Has Always Been There For You: mainly Flavey and Karen

Makes You Laugh The Most: everyone (whether laughing at or with)

Best To Hang Out With: everyone, given the day

Will graduate top of the class: well, Jaron's gonna be the first to get a 4.7GPA

-Questions-

Do you like school: depends on the subject

If you do, why: I get to simulate killing stuff in art... or paint

How many hours are you online a day: two or three

Do you shower daily: sometimes twice a day

Have you ever been to a concert: plenty

If you have, who did you see: um... a lot of people, but soon it'll be OLP

Do you believe in God: which one?

Where was you born: Manila

Have you ever failed a grade: no

What college do you want to attend: Stanford, or Berkeley

Where do you see yourself in 10 years: through a mirror

Do you have a job: yeah, but nothing I like

If you do, where do you work: filing clerk at dad's clinic

What is your biggest fear: failure

Have you ever rode a roller-coaster: yes

Have you ever been to Disney World: Disneyland exclusively

Have you ever climbed a tree: attempted

Have you ever been trapped in an elevator: plenty

Who did you talk to on the phone last: Karen

Who wrote you a note last: um, email? in that case, Sarah

What vehicle do you want: a mass vehicle of destruction... or a private plane

Have you had your first kiss: yes

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be: stop being so interdependent

What C.D. is in your C.D. player right now: OLP's Gravity

Have you ever smoked: no, but I love the scent of it

Who do you hate: ::displays hit list::

boxers ® briefs: boxers

taller ® shorter than u: preferably the same height; dancing with tall people leads to aching arms

cut but big ® built but skinny: skinny

good or bad boy: um, stable

hat or no hat: only if the hat is stylish

minute man BUT worth it ® hour man BUT unsatisfying: has to be worth it

light or dark: recently, the light side

hair: as long as it looks good, I'm taken

stubble ® neatly shaved: shaved

athlete ® lazy boy: doesn't really matter

scent: classic-scented anything cologne

style: preferably original, but nothing's requisite

nationality: no preference

virgin ® not: as long as there's protection it doesn't really matter

Last thoughts: ... sleep. Now.

. . . . . posted:||5:00 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Um... so the new layout didn't finish itself as quickly as I wanted it to have.

(::takes this moment to try to beat his computer elves into submission::)

Today's been a thoroughly satisfying day (whoo!).

Woke up around 11:50am and got ready to go out for the day. Quick lunch at Suncoast and then sis and I had time to kill before the movie began. We headed over to the lil arcade by the bowling alley to perchance play some DDR, but there were numerous expert players (all asian) already at work on the damned things, so we meandered and played Time Crisis 2 for a bit. At some point I got onto the new Tekken 4 and was enjoying my game.

So, I'm the final round of a match against one of the fighters, with two more hits and I win, when this kid comes along and decides to jump into the game. Strike one. While I wait for him to pick a character I glance over to the DDR game longingly only to discover that the boy had just put the cursor on the random character selector and intended to beat me with any of the characters. Strike two. Before the match begins he turns to me and says: "I'll go easy on you this first round." Strike three. Guess who won? Yep, I completely devastated the poor boy (and even managed to smash his fighter through several layers of concrete). Pride having taken a beating, the boy decides to be cocky and challenges me again, but this time he uses my own character against me. Still decimate him. But after that I was getting my ass kicked by the game while getting condecending remarks from a small, pre-pubescent boy who sadly enough resembles a young me. Eep.

Eventually made it to the cinema and got to watch Lilo & Stitch. Although not quite a typical Disney animated movie (the PG rating and absence of a musical score already a given) it was still able to be very entertaining. Then again, seeing a sadistic space-alien-koala version of me wreak havoc was nice. No blood, but plenty of mooning from Stitch's end... erm, no pun intended.

Afterwards went down to WOW to peruse the CDs. The spoils from that exploit are: Bridget Jones' Diary, The Velvet Goldmine DVD (finally!), Splendor DVD, the Something Corporate EP, Our Lady Peace's Gravity, the original broadway cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and a piano/vocal selection of the music from RENT.

To go off on a tangent... ahem. RENT in Japan, where Roger has fly-away hair, Mark looks like Michelle Kwan (while still remaining a male), Angel resembles Gackt-sama (no surprise there), and Benny looks like the filipino broadway-affectionado Michael from my church. I'd post the Manila cast, but seeing a pack of pinoys playing that bohemian musical is too disturbing.
But back to WOW. The magazine section is completely amazing. Not only do they have almost every single periodical in America, but they have a fair amount of stuff from other metropolitan countries. Namely Japan. I was tempted to go get both of Jamie Oliver's books (for the recipes, I swear!), a book about erotic art during the 17th and 18th century (with mainly satirical images), a book of amazing cyanotype photography, a book of Carrivagio's work, a book about vintage photos of men with men (both platonic and not-so-platonic), several collectible figures from NGE, several posters involving Mr. McGregor, and Edward Gorey's "The Unstrung Harp (or Mr. Earwax Writes a Book" but that would've pushed the total bill to be above the $500 mark.

(Speaking of the Moulin Rouge star, I was watching the "Ode to Impersonators" episode of StreetSmarts and witnessed a homophony Nicole-Kidman-female impersonator from La Cage and a fully flaming Ricky Martin impersonator from the Stratosphere's American All-Star show. Eep.

After purchase (complete with an extremely sexy Rufus Wainwright-esque boy behind me in line and seeing Sean Biggerstaff on a cardboard ad for the Harry Potter DVD) the family headed over to Panda Express where I dined on the only two vegetarian dishes (Tofu w/ Garlic and "assorted veggies") and read disturbing fortune cookies.

Then it was home to watch the 2002 Olympic skating competitions and exhibitions on DVD (whoo! Tim Geobel!!) with a call from Karen and a conversation about upcoming auditions and a mutual friend finally doing exactly what he's been wanting to do for a while. (It's about effing time!)

Later on that night I turned on the tv and L.I.E. was about to start. Amazing movie, but my mind is completely frazzled at the moment for me to make any coherent sense (as if you couldn't tell that from what I've written thus far). Luckily I had the foresight to record the movie. And now, it is off to watch Ewan McGregor in The Velvet Goldmine. Ciao.

. . . . . posted:||2:08 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.21.2002
 

Erm, so yeah. Recently discovered that the main reason why my internet has been almost as slow as a regular dial-up modem is (::dundundunDUN::) four viruses hiding in the temp folder. So, I've been using Netscape for the past week or so. Things have been... interesting... while I still try to adjust to the blue-ish layout of the browser, but now pages are literally loading in one second. Hehe.

Grandma's been annoying me to no end. Usual teen-angst about an authority figure laying down rules and lectures left and right, and the urge to rebel. Normally that's not enough to phase me... but then you factor in the subtext while most asian parental figures are notorious for exploiting and... it's not a pretty sight.

While burning some words into the wooden boat this thursday, I accidently spilt some (read: half the can of) mahogany wood stain onto the concrete. Five hours and several bottles of acetone later, and the stain... is still there. I'll need industrial strength/size acetone to get the entire thing out. Yeesh.

Been watching almost all of the sitcoms on BBC America. There's "Gimme Gimme Gimme" which mirrors many of the fag-hag relationships I have multiplied a thousand fold, a fusion of Sex In the City and Friends in "Coupling," and a Malcom-In-the-Middle meets Sex-In-the-City a la mid-life crisis men in "Manchild." And, of course, the almost-catholic comedy of "Father Ted." Best of all, British sitcoms are infinitely more risque and contain a plethora of well-written sex comedy. Good stuff.

First week of work finally over and done with. So far, no paper cuts... but I did manage to get myself two papercuts and a half-inch second-degree-burn on one finger at home. Ech. And it seems as if sis and I are the hardest working employees in the building; most of the doctors have several minutes in between patients to hang out and talk to eachother or practice their golf swing.

And now... back to working on the boat. I tried burning letters onto the side, but the stain doesn't allow the letters to show very well. So, I'm carving in the words instead. Wooh, go me.

. . . . . posted:||9:19 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.20.2002
 

Yes, I'm guilty of being an avid American Idol fan. What's even worse, one might ask? I called/ voted for Mr. Verraros a total of twenty times. -_-;; He just reminds me of the lovechild of Mark and Roger from RENT... if it were biologically possible for two men to have a kid... and if the females weren't in the way... or if M/R were real people to begin with... anyways.

I've been getting into the Mark/Roger slash-fics. Not as badly as I was into Oliver/Percy slash.

Speaking of which, the 30 sec. teaser for the next Harry Potter movie looks amazing. A pity that Sean Biggerstaff wasn't in it... but the entire story was given away in it... or, erm, to us... who have read the book? Yeah, something or other like that.

. . . . . posted:||6:44 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
"...Is this as hard as it gets? I'm getting tired of pretending I'm tough..."
- from "You Don't See Me" by Josie and the Pussycats

So, it's early morning at the moment. I got up just in time to see a sunrise I haven't seen for a few months (back when the sunrising in the east was a buffer for traffic to school downtown).

There's definitely something to be said about the late evening and early morning hours. Usually my days are filled with annoying people (::coughgrandmotherfuckingdearestcough::), pressing deadlines, and severe boredom. I am a complete nocturne, especially when it comes to moments of inspiration. Somewhere between getting to that half-awake zombie state and the cups of coffee/ tea/ caffiene I get my best ideas. During the day I can still come up with ideas, but they tend to develop slowly when the sun is still out.

You could say that the moon's presence makes me work almost exponentially... or not.

Called Karen yesterday while staining a wooden boat I plan to burn some images/words onto. Talked about, quite literally, anything and everything. It's relieving to converse with someone who has a matching wit, intelligence, and perception. But dear, I still have more to tell you... just need to formulate my thoughts into something tangible.

Another thing about nighttime: I always end up writing maudline, overly analytical letters in my bed that never get published/ sent. I have yet to resort to an alternate, unseen online journal, diary, blog, etc. to sort out my ideas. That's what paper and locking clasps are for.

I still need to write about modern mythological figures and symbolisms so that I can incorporate it into the boat-shrine that's in the middle of being constructed. At least the necessary images have been compiled.

Work is steadily becoming duller and annoying. Each day I have only half the energy to file items and such; I've resorted to organizing un-alphabetized documents in different manners to keep me... "entertained." Each day my fatigue makes me quite irritable. Conversely, my sister becomes sleep-drunk and more non-sensible than she normally is. At some point dad pays us a visit with some sort of caffienated beverage, and it only agitates sister's regression into a preschooler mentality.

I suffer more from her company than she does from her numerous papercuts. It was interesting to see her and one of dad's patients having eye-sex across two rooms and a hallway.

Later on that night I come downstairs to put away the cordless phone when grandma stops me and insists that I cook tofu with her. Well... I'll spare the numerous accounts of teeth-grating, back-handed comments, and utterances of "tank dee lord dat eye..." which my grandma just LOVES to use to make her point.

::insert dramatic music, a war-torn landscape, and a golden sunset:: As God as my witness, I will never cook with the grandma again!

I still have to take piano lessons this friday too... and I promised to practice every single day. But that never happens.

One of the consequences of being a complete nightowl: I can't practice without waking up the entire household. Nor do I want them (or anybody, for that matter) to hear/see me struggle through a piece that is still lack-luster. Even after working on it for almost two months.

Yep, general unease in the house of Windsor... erm, yeah.

. . . . . posted:||5:59 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.18.2002
 

I have a summer job. Nothing special or grand; I file papers and other secretarial chores at my dad's clinic with sis. As for wages:

(min. wage) X (4 hours/day) / (IRS) = $10

Come payday I get a whomping $100, which is about $10 for each box of files I get done. Whoo. The other workers at the clinic are really friendly (mainly because we're the spawn of one of the owners), and a lot of them dropped by dad's office to comment on how hardworking we were and how much I resembled my dad. Pretty funny, since I got more of my mom's genes (minus an X) and sis got most of dad's.

Came home, argued with grandma over knifes and coleslaw etc. etc.

Perfect, strategical planning has me sleeping through dinner to wake up at 11pm. Seeing no food left out, I decided to whip out the Perfect Pancake Maker (bought at one of those As Seen On TV stores at the mall) and made myself a nice batch of fluffy goodness. Consider it a late-dinner/ early-ass-breakfast.

Which leads me to another thing worth mentioning. Ladies and gents, I've turned vegetarian. I've been curious about the pros, cons, etc. about refraining from meat for some time, so I figured that trying out the whole greenery thing for at least this summer wouldn't hurt. Still not quite veegan though; I enjoy my fair share of dairy and egg products (although trying to limit my intake of that).

Thing's haven't been easy. First off, I live in a filipino family whose matron still marvels over our ability to acquire meat on a regular basis. She tends to cook chicken and barbeque pork/beef quite frequently, often times dripping with fats and other nasties that she condemns when in butter/oil form. Then there's my family's frequent visits to the city's numerous buffets. Just this past sunday (Father's Day! Whoo!) we ate at the Suncoast, and I noticed how going vegetarian limits the food choices by 3/4. Especially during a champagne brunch. Luckily, we know how to pick out the better buffets in town, so their selection of greens and such wasn't rancid.

Hmm. Just noticed that I'm more or less getting on the vegetarian band-wagon that a lot of my friends have been on. Flavey went veggie a few weeks back, Kristen, Nikki, and Liz have been for some time. It's nice to know that I'll have supporters if I need any.

Oh, and one more bonus: I don't have to eat half of the stuff my grandma cooks and pressures me to consume. "Oh! Look at chyou! You so eskinny now! You like chiKEN? Yes, eat!" I'm tempted to give her a heartattack, American Adobo style.

Seattle Tyler's two mice have reenacted Lord of the Flies. After leaving the room for a few moments, Tyler came back to find Nicodemus standing over the still (and gruesomely bloody) remains of the other mouse (whose name is that of a Jedi master.. so can't really recall it at the moment). He think's that it's poetic justice; both mice are named after characters that are assasinated.

Raided Michaels again this past Sunday. All day today (after getting home) I played around with the new tip for my woodburning pen and made a few (read: 20+) thumbnails for this project I've been thinking about. Semi-intrinsic, but it's mainly something I get to use to express/deal with some issues. Also from Michaels: purty stationary, three slate boards to be painted on, three small wooden boxes for future projects, gesso and matte medium, and some fake earthy-toned flowers for the shrine thingy I was planning. Went to Lowe's shortly after to get some masonite boards which will be painted on as well. I have a commission from the parents to paint their wedding portrait that pays $500, in addition to the $100 paychecks and the possible $350 for report cards.

I doubt they want to dish out the cash.

. . . . . posted:||2:12 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.16.2002
 

And it looks as if I've resorted to reviewing media to compensate for a lack of drama in my life. But, no drama is good drama so that's always a good thing.

Afterall, if I were to talk about absolutely everything I've in my head at this moment, I would make myself a whiny bitch. Not to mention:

- making a lot of my friends worry about my mental and/or physical health

- talk about things I would be embarassed to discuss otherwise

- mention him far too much for anything to be considered platonic

- dwell on things far too much

- revel in my duldrom

So I'll refrain from boring all of you.

But, do expect an update sometime this week. A new layout infused with some newly (re)acquired HTML skills.

. . . . . posted:||1:51 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Just finished an amazing book. Ever heard of John Rechy's Bodies and Souls? Astounding!

Given the extremely early hour in which I'm typing this, I can't exactly give a thorough review of the book, but I'll try my best not to ramble on. Basically the story is about four main characters: Jesse who grew up on the romanticist Wild West, Lisa who relies on the great romances of the old movies, Orin whose reliance on near-gothic dogma remains a mystery for almost the entire novel, and the city of Los Angeles. To properly describe the character of Los Angeles, Rechy tells the tales of several of the city's inhabitants; he chooses the stereotypical people of L.A. (grungy Chicano, male hustlers, aging strippers, etc.) and delves into justifying their actions and contradictions.

Throughout the novel Rechy successfully uses two major themes to such success and clarity: sex and foreshadowing.

Like Shakespeare and Luhrman, Rechy gives the tragic ending to the story in the beginning, but he keeps descriptions informal. At the end of the novel, once the three main characters have been fully explored, he goes into painstaking detail of every action, every thought, and every reason which further supplements the final events. Before the fatal shootings at the freeway, many instances of the event echo throughout the other individuals discussed in the story: a maid with apocalyptic visions cleans the home of a fashion designer whose "surprise" design is that of a fashion sniper, the aging male stripper's newly developed act has him decked out in commando uniform, and news of an escaped Vietnam veteran from a mental hospital. Then there is the chapter, placed almost in the exact center of the story, where a college lecturer blatantly lays out the themes of the book.
"As long as death exists, free will does not. Except perhaps in suicide. Have we arrived at a possible act of perfection--the one action in which fate embraces choice?"
Sex is used by Rechy as if it were a literary device. Often times the compromising situations that the characters find themselves in are symbolic of other issues. A reporter duels with a crewman in bed while exercising her power of control and manipulation. The stripper hides behind a leather-daddy facade to mask his insecurities. A Mr. Universal contestant is controlled by the federation's president through his wife's sex addiction. The Chicano punk rock fan has a quicky with a girl in a band to signify his initiation into the culture. Gigglos not only gain their livelyhood from the sex they have, but are also given an aire of importance and disgust because of it. A schizophrenic tramp distracts a fellow homeless man with supposed sex in order to get his money to buy wine. The list goes on; all occurences hinting that the sex being had is about power and control, much like Oscar Wilde once observed.

And in the end, it really is the thing called fate that ties all these lives into one moment of sheer coincidence.

... damn, I regurgitated half of what Rechy himself wrote in his introduction. Oh well, the book's still a good read.

. . . . . posted:||1:46 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.15.2002
 

Symptoms of a life far too ordinary: sporatic blogging

This goes out to everyone as a general warning... do NOT go see "American Adobo". Hot on the trails of the well-recieved "The Debut," "American Adobo" tried to appeal to the 30 - 40 year old filipino audience, and failed horridly. The entire movie was an exercise in pure sap and fluff, further enhanced by the plethora of pinoy cliches throughout the story. An old maid who cooks well (Tere). A playboy hot-shot (Raoul) who becomes repentant after possibly contracting HIV, who later marries a blonde nurse. A debutante with her well hung musician boyfriend with a fidelity problem. A former political activist who goes back to the Philippines and leaves his newly-rich, mah jong-addicted wife (Mike). A pinay who gets impregnated by her boyfriend but successfully supports her new family through college. A gay man (Gerry) whose mother is devastated when she learns that she'll never get grandchildren and whose lover is dying of AIDS.

Since the movie deals with the complexities of interpersonal relations, one would imagine that the writer would've focused on explaining everything. But that is not the case. The playboy's actions are never justified, and neither are the debutante's. Both have a predisposition to create relationships that are based almost exclusively on sex, but they have no reason to. The most notable of inconsistencies occurs almost at the end of the film. During a New Year's gathering, the group of collegemates celebrate the new year, and Gerry comes out to his friends in the most lukewarm fashion possible. Later, he is driving with Mike to the airport to pick up his mother (who is visiting from the motherland) when at some point he pulls over, confesses his love, and kisses his friend. Disregarding all his attachments and declarations of undying love to his lover Chris.

The cinematography of the movie makes it painfully clean how low-budget the production was. Most scenes are shot from the same angle with an unmoving camera and an occasional close up to point out certain elements. Also, the script was horribly written. There are far too many moments where the music turns to violins and piano sonatas as actors give unpassionate voice-overs of letters written to people that are never actually mentioned.

Then there's the gratuitous nudity. Plenty of plump breasts giggling at inappropriate segments, and even a completely unnecessary shower scene involving the musician and his hairy bush. And notice that they are all not filipino.

Albeit, there were a few funny parts. Mainly in the beginning when Raoul's date takes off her jacket and accidently exposes a breast, or Gerry scrambling home to the Philippines to intercept risque photos misaddressed to his mother. All these moments are severely overshadowed by the painfully lackluster segments. At some point I lost all interest in giving the movie a chance and performed a MST3000 with a sharp tongue.

As the impregnated daughter said herself: "Dad, do NOT turn this into one of those bad filipino movies you and mom like to rent!"

. . . . . posted:||5:24 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.13.2002
 

Kristen's party was tonight (doo da, doo da).

Got there around 6:20 while the festivities had barely started. Driving up to her house, I spotted a man-looking Jyl with her tanktop waiting on the roadside, followed by people waiting out in front for... something.

So, there was a pool. Eventually I got dragged in there by Lauren and John, which ment that I'd be waddling in semi-wet clothes for the rest of the party. Damned pants... they were quite loose already, and with ten pounds of water retained in the fabric I was quite close to letting the damned thing slip. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Half of the people at the party I knew well, the other half not so well. So, several observations and notes since trying to make an entry about the party in chronological order is next to impossible.

Claire: ever the sexed-up belly dancer. She wore a two piece bathingsuit/bikini that had a tendency to become untied when she was in the water... which happened frequently. The first time 'round, she and Kasper kept their heads over the water so that they would look beautiful for Mikey once he swung by... but I made short work of their plans. After listening to those two talk about Mikey (including much squealing) I sent massive walls of water in their general direction.

Lauren: red bikini'd Flavey was the only well endowed girl to show up to the party, so she often complained about popping out of her top. Hung out 'round Lex and Mike for the first half of the party till Christian swung by. At some point she swapped the ghetto-fide music with the Sublime CD from her car. General orchestrator of the more classy displays of gratuitous... yeah. The re-enactments of that particular night was muy interesante.

John: hawaii shirts and swimming shorts, he was the first to jump into the pool. Kinda felt sorry for him because he hardly knew anyone else at the party and kept to himself most of the time. Once Adrienne and Jyl started hanging out (along with the presence of one Missi) he kept to himself even more. At some point I decided to talk to him and see what's up, where we conspired to end the world by collapsing the crust onto the vacant area where the mantle once...

Jyl: showing more and more of her manliness with the presence of her black tanktop etc. etc. At some point Adrienne and I were trying to get her pants off so we could pull her into the water, but I was the one that got dunked instead. She spent most of the time with Adrienne off by themselves talking or whatnot. At some point she took off her tanktop to reveal some uncharacteristically raunchy black bikini wear. Which got her into a bit of trouble when her mom came to pick her up.

Adrienne: she wore color?! And a bright blue/green number at that! Anyways, usually in the company of Jyl walking around the surrounding areas. At some point the two were bouncing on the trampoline and saw me talking with John. She thought I was flirting with him to make him feel better. Well, the flirting part was off.

Nikki: reluctant to get herself wet for most of the party. Mainly she hung out poolside while chatting with people. At some point I went over and she was telling stories about her breakup with Cooper ("I'm not bitter, I swear!") and the additional support by Ms. Miller. Later seen out in the front with Lex and Mike eating pizza and avoiding people. Then, after sunset, she jumped into the pool with Lex and much faux-lesbianism ensued. Mike was enjoying the show, especially when he got into the water and the latched onto his legs.

Monica: showed up wearing the same bikini as Claire. Didn't see much of her tonight.

Eric: as Lauren once said, "That boy looks like a ten year old! I think he's just waiting for his body to catch up with him." Originally sporting a blue shirt, he changed to a cooler white before taking that off to go swimming. While in the water he got friendly with the inflatable turtle and had numerous fake orgasms. Don't ask. Later, he was constantly chased/rubbing against Drew and, at some point, asked me to make a porno-star name for him. I was thinking Jimmy Longhorn. Afterwards, discussion/appreciation of Ms. Aguilera and her music as it played in the background.

Drew: the token flirt/slut. Hung out with Kasper for most of night, didn't interact too much with him. He was a bit too busy keeping himself as preserved as possible.

Mikey: the reason for many of the girls' appearances. Came with Drew, went to see Kristen's pig-decorated room, generally smiling and shaking his head at the crazy antics abounding. His hair looked cute, though.

Wes: visiting from... erm, wherever he had moved to. The boy's looking good. Spent the last half of the party on the trampoline hanging out with people.

And here are some highlights of the night's events:

- the reenactment of the Randy incident as well as Claire straddling Christian
- blatant flirting with the pizza guy who delivered the Little Caesars
- borroing Christian's shirt while mine dried. (Jyl: "You look like a gym queen!")
- the sprinklers going off while people sat by them
- Lauren and Christian bringing back some Marie Calendars pie

Erm... I know there were more than that, but my memory's a bit on the joggy side.

But, that entire night gave me some severe flashbacks of freshmen year. In other words, seeing Wes and Eric without a top on... not good. Not good at all.

Adrienne's not so jaded once the clock approaches 10pm.

And now I must shower to get rid of the chlorine scent on me. Blech.

(oh, and it's #1061)

. . . . . posted:||11:54 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
::cracks neck:: Ow.

So, I haven't been doing much over the past couple days... except for yesterday.

Well, the first part I can't really say because I don't want certain peoples to kick my ass (damn you, peoples)!

But after doing whatever I did, I went over to Christy's house with sis. She greated us in her usual regalities of sweater and pajama pants. Later on her friend swung by, followed by parents with pizza. The two elder Albas were commenting on how much weight I had lost etc. etc. After they exited the room, I helped myself to five slices of pizza.

"Diet? What effing diet?"

Spent a good hour oogling Brandon Boyd and company from the newest Incubus DVD.

Watching "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was a bit more hazardous. Christy's parents have an issue with profanity... and then there's a composite 80 minutes of Jay's mouth moving during the film. You do the math. Christy and friend found the movie very funny though... especially to the point where one or the other threatened to pee in their pants.

Good times, good times.

And today will be Kristen's end-of-the-year/ hey-look-wes-is-visiting party. Can't wait for 6pm to roll around.

. . . . . posted:||11:07 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.10.2002
 

Well today was... productive... to say the most of things.

A good portion of the day was spent reading books/magazines in bed. Another good portion of the day was spent reading fanfics and IM conversations infront of the computer.

Not enough time spent infront of the piano, practicing.

Plenty of time spent looking up specifications at the Las Vegas DMV for expired permits (no extentions).

Ample time working on a new layout (but the content of all other pages must be tweaked as well).

I'm ready to call it a night, but only out of sheer boredom. Tomorrow I start working on the new painting I have been planning all day today.

. . . . . posted:||7:02 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.9.2002
 

some excerpts from Patrick Price's Drama Queen:

The Wonder Twin

You share a passion for eighties dance music, you swap clothes, you work out together, he makes you laugh and is always there with a hug when you need it. The perfect boyfriend? Nah, it's just your Wonder Twin. He's the platonic ideal, an unconditional match to your personality. He'd be the ideal mate if there weren't onee thing missing: sexual chemistry. Besides, thinking of him that way feels downright incestuous.

Individually you're great but together you're a force, an almost telepathic team who instinctively understand each other. Maybe too well sometimes. You don't always want someone in your head, guessing and analyzing your every move. but be warned, your clear familiarity will have people assume he's your boyfriend. Make sure he's ouf of earshot before whispering, "Him? Please! I have standards."

- - -

The Sage
The Sage is like your own Dr. Laura without the harsh judgement, the millions of eavesdroppers, or the overprocessed perm. He has boundless patience for listening to our problems no matter how repeated or tedious. Keeping you on track by loving you enough to speak the truth, he always helps you see things clearly. Just don't forgget that he has problems too. Perhaps he's able to resolve World Peace talks but can't figure out why he dotes on a rotten boyfriend. Or has mother issues even you can see are unhealthy. Even the wisest of us can be blind when it hits close to home. We all need a little direction and perspective sometimes. Be a friend an return the favor.

. . . . . posted:||10:27 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Borders again.

A Jazz band of UNLV students were performing in the cafe so I sat and watched. Fun fun. Also... I've discovered another reason to apply for a job there: half of the guys are hot. Not really a necessity, but something I could use to lighten up the occasional bad day. Oh, and cute customers too. Specifically one who was perusing the gay/lesbian psychology section with me. Teehee.

Spoils of the night:
- the Something Corporate CD: "Leave Through the Window"
- newest XY issue
- newest Advocate issue
- Drama Queen
- Jane Lindskold's Changer
- John Rechy's Bodies and Souls

Also saw "The Sum of All Fears." Good movie... but it kind turned into something reminiscent of Pearl Harbor after the detonation. Especially the lawn picnic at the end, etc. etc. And I will never look at the anti-nuke missiles as anything but proof of big boys and their phallic toys. Hehe.

The latest XY issue has interesting pics, a page of miscellany about Vegas, and several articles which pose questions about many issues I hold dear.

Now, normally I'm not one to buy self-help books... but Drama Queen was too well written to pass up. Especially the section describing different friend "types."

But now to return to my rereading of my Harry Potter books.

Yep, I'm bored.

. . . . . posted:||10:18 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Hmm... so, another group outing to celebrate the newly gained freedom known as summer break. Some choice quotes from the night:

Dinner at Buca di Beppo's.

Christy: "You equal sex!"

Chef: "Oh him? Well, you don't want him. He's... different."
Christy: "Oh! You mean he's different?"
Chef: "Nono, he's saving himself."

Sarah: "Who here thinks that Matt's a wimp?"
(everyone raises their hand)

Matt: "Two things: young kids and old people are a no no. But everyone else is fine."
Christy: "Yes. Even that guy in the tomato suit."
Me: "Even I wouldn't fuck produce, Christy."

Matt: "I hope we haven't offended you."
Christy: "No, we make it interesting for him."
Mike: "Yes, you do. You can sexually harass me anytime."

Karen: "Please don't say anything stupid, I want to eat here again without having the staff know who I am."
Me: "Too late."

Matt: "Ego isn't always a bad thing."
Sarah, Karen, Christy, and Cat: "Yes it is."
Matt: "That's why I have no ego."
Me: (cough)

Sarah's house watching Moulin Rouge.

Matt: "If I ran for president, would any of you vote for me?"
Sarah: "Not for someone as whimpy as you!"

Karen: (points to Christian) "Hey! I have his hat!"
Me: (points to Satine) "Hey! I have... her... hat...?"

Me: "Sarah, you're dogs are cute. But they smell."

Christy: "For that, Matt, I'll get... him and him and him and her to rape you."
(said after he gave her a titty twister)

Karen: (points to Toulouse) "He reminds me of Tyler!"

Me: "And this guy... Mmmph! Been staring at him for three months."
Karen: "He... looks like Matt."
Me: "...?! You're the fifth person to say that."
Karen: "Well, it's true."

Me: "Ah! The devil!" (rubs out a face in the yearbook)
Karen: "Who is he?"
Me: "Exactly what Matt's going to be in a couple of years."

... and if I can think of anymore, I'll be sure to add on later.

Generally good night. Moulin Rouge at the end completely lightened up my mood. Up until that point I was getting a bit peeved because Matt, over the course of three months with little contact, has become such a slut. It bordered on annoying.

Looks like my avoidance has reach a point where I can't kick things off from the start without feeling ticked at him again and again. That boy is such a social butterfly that it irritates me... Albeit I'm the same, but I don't irritate people by doing it.

And I shall stop speaking about that subject 'lest I escape my current good mood.

Two days ago I went down to chinatown and bought some Jasmine tea. Now half of the bags are gone because I can't get enough of the concotion. Hehe.

. . . . . posted:||12:24 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.7.2002
 

.... tired.

Sophomore year is over, and I'm a Junior in a few three months.

It's time to sleep in!

And possibly attend a life-drawing class or two.

. . . . . posted:||7:05 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.6.2002
 

Ladies and gentlemen, Ewan McGregor. On MTV. Wearing eye-liner. Cleanly shaven. Sleeveless black tee. Matching, tight pants. Accent. ::melts::

Oh, and the UFO sighting that was suppose to happen today... kinda happened, I guess. There was a light off to the distance that eventually disappeared behind the mountain... but nothing too interesting to look at.

Uncle's 40th bday at the China Harbor restaurant. Had yummy chinese food (with a filipino-style beef stew to start off the meal) and I was the only person who never resorted to touching the food with their hands. In otherwords, I didn't have to wash my hands because they didn't wreak of crab. Hehe.

I have some jasmine tea and rice cakes... stupid sis, they're suppose to be rice crackers. Oh well.

. . . . . posted:||11:25 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Ahem, extreme Harry Potter quiz results abound:

Dude.

Which Marauder are YOU? by Britt

Hehe, I'm Harry's dad.

9 out of 10 results place me as a Ravenclaw (one made me a Gryphindorff... ha)

This test says that I'm Remus, Dumbledore, and Harry, respectably.

This test says that I'm Harry, Hermione, and Sirius.

I'd be dating Ginny, Hermione, or Ron. (where's my Oliver, g'dammit! but...)

>

>Which Quidditch position should you play?
Quiz by

You're a very important member of your team. You're the one who needs to stay calm in a tough situation to guard the goal posts. Your team really depends on you to keep them together.


Hehe, I'm bizarre. Only one more day to go! ::collapses::





. . . . . posted:||12:16 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Well, finals have yet to kill my fragile little mind.

During lunch today we decided to torment poor Jillie just for kicks and teasing intent. In otherwords, Marcy laced Jillie's furry tie through her belt hoops and tied the girl to the chair while Adrienne sat on her lap to keep her down. After several attempts at getting up, Jillie decided that losing her pants over the situation was unnecessary, and proceeded to untie the knot. Later, Adrienne stole Jyl's backpack and put it on while Marcy fashioned a padlock on the straps. In otherwords, to get her backpack Jyl would have to unlock the mechanism in Adrienne's cleavage. Eventually, Marcy tells her the combination so she goes off to undo the lock... but as soon as she has it done we grab the lock again and repeat the process. For half of the lunch period she couldn't do much about it since the deans were patrolling our section of the cafeteria. So, with the intent of helping Jyl out a bit, I worked the backpack straps off of Adrienne's arms... which caused the lock to rest on her crotch. Oops. Eventually Jyl lost all abandon and "done in" to undo the lock. After taking her a bit of time to get the right combination, Jyl snatched her backpack and stormed off to the theater.

... Later I found out that A and J had already broken up a couple days before. Oops. That would've been some helpful information.

Helped Sarah with boy troubles (again). Kinda fell asleep before 11pm (sometime around 7pm actually) and woke up six hours later, so I didn't get to hear all about her phone conversation.

Hehe, Karen's into Arithmancy! Which led to Harry Potter slash-fics, which led to Percy/Oliver slash-fics, which led to much squealing and overall happiness. Oh, and Thoroughly Modern Millie playing all around.

. . . . . posted:||4:29 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.4.2002
 

Okay, second time typing this out because my computer decided to be daft just as I was finishing the entry. Thank you, you useless piece of shite.

Anyways... today was the first day of finals; third and seventh period finals to be precise.

Japanese was as uneventful as usual save the viewing of an... interesting... video by Will and company. Afterwards Bernau-sensei tried to get the class to play this game, but we ran out of time and even then the rules were quite vague. I took the period to study for my Photo final...

... which I blasted out of the water. Easily done except for five or so questions, and a rather large portion of the true/false section. Oh well. Before the period started Lauren dragged me around trying to find Clayton so she could say goodbye/jump him into a corner. After finishing my test I "helped" clean the darkroom, except that the place had already been previously cleaned so there wasn't much to do. Off to the computer lab I went to show Lauren the infinitely scary Sean Biggerstaff fanpages, surf around the web, etc. etc. At some point I tried doing some Mavis Beacon typing, but then the bell rang and I was getting annoyed with all the unusual sentences. Blech.

Math was spent reviewing (again) so I was drawing/sketching all over my notes. Forced Mikey to sign my yearbook since he hadn't the last time I gave it to him to sign (even kept it until the bell rang). During lunch we just happened to sit next to his table, so half of the females at my table were constantly flustered. Marcy and I sang showtune after showtune for the hell of it, and Claire joined in occasionally.

The Art final isn't until tomorrow, so we had a studio day today. I got so bored that I cleaned the sink for Ms. Treat. Funny thing is, I never realized that the countertop was black. It's scary that those sinks were once used in a cooking class back when LVA was still LVHS. So, cleaned for 1.5 hours/until my legs gave out. Then went to Vee's side of the room and read National Geographics for the rest of the period. Found a nifty article on Ireland.

Speaking of which, boys from Scottland and Ireland (and occasionally Essex) are the choice for the moment. Saw Oliver's Twist today, and I plan to record it when it comes on again. Several reasons: it's Jamie Oliver for chrissakes, the street magician is cute, vegitarian cuisine starring various mushrooms (recipes!), and everyone sporting Sum-41-esque hair-doos. Hehehe.

Eh, time to sleep. Or listen to Crambo until I pass out from exhaustion. Whichever comes first.

. . . . . posted:||10:54 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.3.2002
 

Yesterday was... erm, interesting.

First off, the OutLoud movie fest is in full swing on the Sundance Channel which means I got to see Bedrooms and Hallways, Hit and Runaway, etc. etc. Most notably: a short film called Liu Awaiting Spring; short with no dialogue save the background music from Peking opera. It's more or less a large music montage about a boy confined in the traditions and expectations of his Chinese background while he contemplates coming out to his parents. Other than the Delta, the Wedding Banquet, and Happy Together, I haven't seen much in the way of cinema dealing with gay Asian-Americans, much less them in interracial relationships. It's something I definitely need to see more of.

And then, after the short film was... the Tony awards! There were far more performances this year than in the previous shows, and I completely enjoyed Thoroughly Modern Millie as well as Urinetown: The Musical.

Today was more or less spent doing whatever in each class. English was spent writing poetry (mainly cinquains). World History had me discussing Disneyland, WW2, and the movie Bent. Chemistry was filled with games of Uno why the cd player belted out Moulin Rouge songs (and naturally, Taylor and Marcy were singing along the entire time).

And now I have finals tomorrow. Am I studying? No. I'm not that worried about the photo final coming up.

. . . . . posted:||8:45 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.2.2002
 

Ahem. Crambo. Good Glaslow variety music. Sis says it's britain's take on emo. That is all.

. . . . . posted:||9:05 AM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.1.2002
 

Ahem....AAAH!!! ::glomps::

Which reminds me, this week just happened to be Ewan McGregor week for some strange reason:

Sunday: The Pillow Book on IFC/Sundance/Encore
Monday: Trainspotting on tape
Tuesday: Star Wars Ep.1 on DVD
Wednesday: Shallow Grave on tape
Thursday: A Life Less Ordinary on... something
Friday: Churchill Polar Bears w/ Ewan McGregor

and the finale for this week....

Saturday: Moulin Rouge!

I need to get The Velvet Goldmine DVD sometime in the near future.

. . . . . posted:||12:51 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Heheh. Now that the movie's over, I'm watching Xena... and she's blind in this episode. Just a funny coincidence.

Recently got the Harry Potter DVD (along with Ocean's Eleven). I was actually impressed with how well the movie was done, and was very satisfied in the end. Well... there was one part that really made the movie for me: "quiditch boy!" As Lauren, DJ, Claire, and I have discovered the captain of the gryphindorf team is sexy beyond belief.

Marcy:"You jerk off to Harry Potter?! Ewww!.... Ha, that's a funny line to yell out."

... riiight. Once again, my (current) taste in Scotish/Irish boys. Which reminds me...

Lauren: "Ode!"
Ode: "Lauren!" ::hug::
Lauren: "Hey Chuck, get over here and join in!"
Ode: "Yeah, make it a big threesome!"
Chuck: "Um... okay." ::hug::
Lauren: "Ahh... you see, I've always wanted to be in a threesome."
Ode: "Yeah. It's sad that this wouldn't work out."
Chuck: "Exactly. I'd do you Lauren, but you don't have a penis."
Lauren: "And I don't got for filipinos. But what about Ode?"
Chuck: "..." ::walks away::

Very interesting times we live in.

. . . . . posted:||12:42 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 
Currently watching "The Blind Swordsman" on IFC. I'm very partial to unusual samurai flicks. Especially one as well done as this.

Last night I had to go through the rites of Confirmation. In otherwords, I dressed in all black and had to don a red robe a la altar boy. Got to the church at 5:25pm because the parents were convinced that it would take half an hour to take the professional photos the church was offering. It only lasted five minutes. So, I had to wait for an hour before things began. Waited outside on the table bench because people hear you humming inside the church. Eventually met up with Sarah and we hung out until the entire thing had to start.

Sarah was telling me about her religion class' lesson in Satanism, and how fascinating it was. "Careful, you're starting to sound like me," I said.

The ceremony itself was quite beautiful. Full of pom and incense laced with tradition. A pity that it didn't mean too much to me. At some point all the incense was blowing in my general direction and really got to my eyes. So, mid-way through the ceremony my eyes started tearing up and it wasn't pretty. Not to mention that the oil on my forehead was heavily scented and almost gave me an awful breakout.

Considering that this was my last chance to do so, I wanted to tell Tyler that I found him very very cute (especially that night because he had let his hair grow out and had spiked it in a rather sexy manner). Couldn't get to him at all that night. Damn.

After the mass was over, had a celebratory dinner at Buca (again). The waitress recognized us from the last dinner we had there after we ordered two tiramisus from the start. Much laughter, getting buzzed from the alcohol in the dessert, seeing other confirmandies celebrating there, checking out the new waiter, etc. etc. Fun fun fun.

Now I have a weekend to relax.... well, I would've, if I didn't have finals to worry about. Crap.

. . . . . posted:||12:16 PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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